For years, residents of Del Rey Oaks, Monterey, and surrounding areas have complained about airplane noise from Monterey Regional Airport. These complaints intensified after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) introduced its "NextGen" technology in 2015, altering flight paths and causing increased noise concerns.

The Monterey County Civil Grand Jury released a report suggesting the Monterey Peninsula Airport District (MPAD) improve its response to noise complaints through better transparency and community engagement. The MPAD board met on July 17 to discuss the report and decided not to implement a Citizens Committee for community input, citing an existing committee that meets monthly.

The board also addressed concerns from the Monterey Fly Safe Coalition, a group of residents led by Uwe Grobecker, who criticized the vagueness in the district's minutes and the increase in flights over residential areas. Despite MPAD's staff emphasizing their lack of authority over airspace regulation, board member Dino Pick highlighted the importance of improving communication between the public and the district. He believes the existing committee is the right platform to address these issues, considering the current nationwide pilot shortage and the shift to larger planes with fewer overall flights compared to the 1990s.